Last week, a bill containing a mandatory trigger lock requirement
looked to be dormant on Capitol Hill. The prevailing wisdom was that
the bill was dead for the year.

However, given the mercurial nature of legislation and legislative
bodies, one can never be certain of what is going to happen as long
as Congress is in session. One event that can always shake up the
legislative calendar is experiencing a leadership change -- such as
when pro-gun House Majority Leader Tom DeLay stepped down from his
position recently.

What we do know at this point is that the bill is before the Rules
Committee today, and will most likely reach the House floor sometime
this week.

The underlying bill would help protect the firearms industry from
frivolous lawsuits brought by cities, municipalities, and radical
anti-gun interest groups.

Unfortunately, the bill was amended on the Senate floor in July by
anti-gun Democrat Senator Herb Kohl (WI), who added language
requiring licensed gun dealers to supply a trigger lock device with
every handgun sold.

House leadership is now being pressured to quickly adopt the Senate
version of the bill instead of taking up its own bill, which contains
no gun control.

While it is imperative that the Congress pass legislation to protect
the firearms industry, this bill should not be used as a vehicle for
a misguided gun control proposal.

The Kohl amendment would effectively impose a "gun tax" on all
handgun purchases.

Worse, the amendment leads gun owners to the verge of mandatory
trigger lock usage, which would actually endanger lives by rendering
self-defense firearms useless. While the amendment does not require
that gun owners use trigger locks at this point, it is easy to see
how trigger locks, like automobile seatbelts or motorcycle helmets,
can quickly become compulsory.

Mandatory trigger locks has long been part of the agenda of anti-gun
zealots. Though masquerading as a modest step, the amendment will
inevitably serve as a stepping-stone to more onerous legislation.

The House bill, introduced by Florida Congressman Cliff Stearns,
could potentially help protect the gun industry, but it would do so
without saddling American gun owners with yet another gun control
law.

H.R. 800, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, garnered
well over 250 cosponsors and would pass the House easily if the
leadership would bring up this bill rather than its Senate
counterpart. In that case, the bill would either go to a joint
House-Senate conference, where the different bills would be
reconciled, or back to the Senate, forcing that chamber to either
pass a clean bill or explain to voters their refusal to protect the
beleaguered gun industry.

ACTION: Please ask your Representative to urge the House leadership
to take up H.R. 800, which contains no gun control proposals, rather
than its Senate counterpart. As GOA is the only national gun lobby
insisting on a completely clean bill, it would be very helpful if
you would circulate this alert widely throughout the pro-gun
community.

I am saddened that the House is on the verge of passing gun control
in the name of protecting the gun industry. The House should ditch
S. 397 and use its own bill, H.R. 800, instead.

H.R. 800, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, garnered
well over 250 cosponsors and would pass the House easily if the
leadership would bring up this bill rather than its Senate
counterpart.

But S. 397 is gun control pure and simple. The Kohl trigger lock
amendment would effectively impose a "gun tax" on all handgun
purchases. Worse, the amendment leads gun owners to the verge of
mandatory trigger lock usage, which would actually endanger lives by
rendering self-defense firearms useless.

While the amendment does not require that gun owners use trigger
locks at this point, it is easy to see how trigger locks, like
automobile seatbelts or motorcycle helmets, can quickly become
compulsory.
Mandatory trigger locks has long been part of the agenda of anti-gun
zealots. Though masquerading as a modest step, the amendment will
inevitably serve as a stepping-stone to more onerous legislation.

Please tell the Speaker and the Majority Leader of the House that S.
397 is unacceptable to gun owners. Instead, send H.R. 800 to the
Senate or tack it on as an amendment to some "must pass"
legislation.

If compulsory trigger lock laws are inacted, I suppose they will have to form a new branch of "blackcoats" wearing jackboots in order to enforce these new laws.

But hey...don't blame the enforcers who kill citizens for not toeing the line, they are just doing their job...after all...anyone who doesn't put gun locks on their firearms deserves to have their doors kicked in, their dogs shot and their family members all forcably pulled out of their homes and into the street...